Posted 1:18 am Thursday, June 21, 2012
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Jacksonville Man Gets 2 Life Sentences For Robbery, Injury To Elderly Man
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
A Jacksonville man received two life sentences Wednesday for his involvement in the robbery and injury of an elderly man.
Ruben Rincon, 23, was found guilty of aggravated robbery and injury to the elderly in the Second Judicial District Court of Cherokee County with Judge Dwight Phifer presiding. A jury sentenced him to life in prison on each count. The sentences will run concurrently, and he will be eligible for parole in 30 years.
Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth, who prosecuted the case, said he was pleased with the verdict and sentence.
"I thought the jury listened to the evidence and came to an appropriate decision," he said. "He shot (the elderly man), pulled him out of the truck and ... (the man) was run over, and they (Rincon and his brother) essentially left him for dead, and I'm sure that was a big factor in the jury's decision."
Jack Sheridan, who represented Rincon, was not immediately available for comment Wednesday evening.
Rincon's charges stem from a shooting incident in December 2010.
Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell has said Rincon and his brother, Hugo Rincon, then 19, were burglarizing a building on 73-year-old David Thom-ason's farm Dec. 4 when Thomason drove to the property to check on things and saw the gate was open.
He then pulled in, stopped at the gate, looked to the right and saw a dark-colored vehicle facing him.
"The driver of the car stuck a pistol out the window and shot two shots in the air, and the passenger got out of the car, came to Thomason's driver's window and hit Mr. Thomason twice, in the neck and shoulder," Campbell previously said.
He has said Ruben Rincon, the shooter, also opened Thomason's pickup door, dragged him on the ground and pulled his pickup out of the way so he and his brother could leave through the gate. They then headed west from the property and down the county road.
Two passers-by eventually saw Thomason on the ground waving and stopped to help.
Thomason was taken by ambulance to a Jacksonville hospital and was later transported to Tyler. He was eventually released.
